Ohio State Gameday+ | Recruiting watch: Marcus Hooker

Friday

Sep 15, 2017 at 12:30 PM

Bill Rabinowitz The Columbus Dispatch @brdispatch

Marcus Hooker’s hamstring bothered him all game last week.

He’d hurt the other hamstring in the New Castle (Pennsylvania) Red Hurricanes’ opener the week before and also has been dealing with a wrist injury. Hooker’s hamstring got so painful that he wasn’t able to play in overtime of a 48-47 victory over Highlands.

But what the brother of 2016 Ohio State star safety Malik Hooker did in regulation time was spectacular. Marcus Hooker, a Buckeyes commitment for 2018, ran for 262 yards and scored on an 85-yard interception return.

It could have been even better.

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“He had four touchdowns, but had three called back,” New Castle coach Joe Cowart said. “He was in the end zone seven different times. He had a 65-yard touchdown run called back.”

Hooker had a simple explanation for why he played through the pain.

“It was just me trying to help my team out the best I can,” he said. “Throughout the game I was just thinking we can’t lose this game.”

Late in the fourth quarter, Hooker said, his leg got tangled and twisted and simply couldn’t play in overtime. He said that with treatment he expected to play this week against Ambridge.

Like his brother, Marcus is a two-sport star. But while Malik was primarily a basketball player until his junior season, Marcus’s main sport has been football.

Cowart said the Hooker brothers are distinct athletically and in personality. Marcus, he said, is a more polished player at this stage of his career than Malik was.

“I would say Marcus knows the finer points of the game and is more of a physical presence on the field,” Cowart said. “He’ll run and hit you. I would say Malik is probably a higher-end athlete, but I preface that by saying Malik is in rare air as far as athleticism. Marcus is certainly a heck of an athlete.”

Malik Hooker flashed an engaging personality at Ohio State, but Marcus is the more extroverted one.

“I like to be around people and making new friends,” he said. “There’s nothing better than that.”

He even sometimes acts like buddies with the New Castle coaches. Cowart chuckled as he described how Marcus routinely pops into the coaches’ locker room and helps himself to snacks. No other player dares do that, he said.

“With Marcus, I would like to talk more about the type of young man he is rather than his exploits on the field,” Cowart said. “I really enjoy being around him, and he does a lot for our school and community as well. It’s been exciting to see him grow as a young man. He certainly makes me laugh every day.”

Both Marcus and Cowart are unconcerned about the expectations Hooker will face following in his brother’s footsteps at Ohio State.

“Just the type of personality he has, I don’t think it’s going to wear on his shoulders,” Cowart said. “I think he’s excited about writing his own story and being his own young man and doing his own thing.”

Hooker is listed as an athlete, and he said he doesn’t care which side of the ball he plays at Ohio State.

“They’ll put me where they like and I’ll enjoy playing there,” he said.